Ford speeds to hydrogen record

Ford made history this week as its Fusion Hydrogen 999 set a new speed record for production car-based fuel-cell vehicles.

The 999 reached 207.28mph at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA. It was designed and built by Ford engineers in collaboration with a team from Ohio State University, Ballard Power Systems and Roush.

“What we’ve accomplished is nothing short of an industry first,” said Gerhard Schmidt, vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering for Ford Motor Company. “No other automaker in the world has come close. We established this project to advance fuel-cell powered vehicles and to do what has never been done before; and we did it.”

Schmidt said Ford’s historic run at Bonneville will further expand the company’s technological horizons with fuel cell-powered vehicles.

Ford already has a fleet of hydrogen-powered Focus fuel cell vehicles on the road, to conduct real-world testing of fuel-cell technology. The 30-car fleet has accumulated nearly 580,000 miles since 2005.

The firm is also conducting tests with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the Edge with HySeries Drive. It uses a series electric drivetrain with an onboard hydrogen fuel cell generator to give the vehicle a range of 225 miles with zero emissions.